Inclusive humanitarian response – change is coming!

I arrived in Nepal on May 12th, some hours after the massive aftershock that caused more casualties and a number of additional damages to properties and infrastructure.

I could see in the faces of people how their lives were shaken again, and how they didn’t see where and how to ensure the safety of themselves and their families. My first night in Kathmandu was broken by a number of aftershocks that woke me up and made me run outside in search of safety.

Though earthquakes are not new to me, every time it makes me realise how frightening they are, bringing a feeling of helplessness.

Three weeks later, life has become quasi-normal in Kathmandu, with its traffic jams, crowds in the street, shops and restaurants all open. If you don’t travel to affected areas you won’t see that two major earthquakes hit the city only few weeks back. Though people are still talking a lot about them and every day small aftershocks remind all of us that it has happened.

Working with partners – ensuring inclusion

It’s been three weeks of working with partners to provide support to the most affected people, to raise awareness about persons with disabilities and older people and to make sure that all of them are included and have equal access to relief, despite the challenges posed by isolated and remote villages and the upcoming rainy season.

Our partners are doing a great job to save lives and contribute to the effort made to assist people in need through trauma care and rehabilitation, organising medical outreach camps, providing psychosocial support – trying to help people to regain independence and normality in their lives. However, we still hear stories from persons with disabilities and older people not being able to access distribution points and being left behind – unintentionally – by relief stakeholders. It is a hard job to reach out to the most at-risk, as often they are not informed, cannot reach the front of the queue and their voices are not heard.

What would you do?

What would you do to find food if you are an 80 year-old man living more than a three-hour walk far from the main road and next city? You will walk downhill, hoping to access a relief package, and then find out that you have to carry a 30 kg bag back uphill …and that you can’t do it. You will seek support, but all other people are also too busy trying to survive to help you.

What would you do if you are a blind person trying to find out where distributions are happening and how to access them, only to discover that you have to compete to be front of the queue as there are not enough supplies for all? Obviously you’ll be at a disadvantage, and most likely you’ll lose out.

What would you do if you are a deaf person, having been transferred by helicopter to Kathmandu for trauma care and have no clue of what is happening to you as no one can communicate with you?

These are only few stories, but many more like this are reported every day…

It is great that donors and organisations are moving towards inclusive policies and frameworks, but exclusion happens on the field. What would you do if you were that relief worker and have limited aid to distribute? Field workers must be supported to turn inclusive policies into inclusive humanitarian action.

Advocating for inclusion

CBM works with our partner the National Federation of Disabled in Nepal (NFDN), supporting them to identify persons with disability and older people and assess their needs to then mobilise humanitarian stakeholders to respond to them. It is very encouraging as many of these organisations are willing to make the extra effort, but lack knowledge or information to ensure inclusion.

Early last week I gave a two-hour orientation on disability inclusion to Red Cross staff, and the head of the delegation said:

“The Red Cross movement was created to help the most difficult to reach and the ones who couldn’t care for themselves, and yet in our response we reach only the easy one. We need to make the extra effort to access all those who are living in remote areas, who are facing barriers to access relief and whose rights we should protect.”

Well, this kind of statement and willingness to walk the extra mile is very encouraging, as it will support the relief worker to develop the mechanisms to help the older man to carry home his 30 Kg of goods, the blind person to find the distribution point and be in front of the queue or the deaf person to access a sign language interpreter to understand what is happening to him and get news from his family.

I will travel back to Europe soon but I’m confident that our partners will continue to raise their voices and to make them heard by all. Change is coming!